Motivation is contagious. Two of the founders of SIM have recently graduated and have left the rest of the SIM Board with a serious case of motivation. For the second month in a row, we’re giving you a double feature; we’re on a roll! These two recent graduates poured their heart and souls into their work, and we want to pass down their Vanderbilt legacies so that we at the SIM Board aren’t hogging their shared wisdom and inspiration. We hereby proudly present their stories with the hope that you, too, can be infected with their motivation!

Meet the second student researcher of our May double-feature: Kavya Sharman.

Honors Research Project: CRISPR-Cas9 delivered by lipid nanoparticles as a novel treatment for IDH1-mutant gliomas

When Ariel and I started SIM, we had no idea of what it would become. We met at a research conference in the fall of 2014. It was the first time I had the chance to share my enthusiasm for all things research with a fellow student researcher. We enjoyed sharing our ups and downs of lab work: from failed PCR experiments to the stress of writing lengthy papers.

We also discussed how difficult it was to find a lab in the first place. When I was finding a lab, I remember sending countless emails and getting rejected time and time again. It was only after I shared this with Ariel that I realized how common this struggle was.

It was during this conversation that we realized how valuable the conference had been. Not only had it given us a chance to share our research experiences, but we were able to bond over seemingly mundane things like Western blots! This was the experience from which SIM was born.

Through SIM, we hoped to share our experiences with others. Vanderbilt has some of the best cutting-edge research labs, and we strive to help students find these research opportunities and make them transformative experiences by providing resources and opportunities to interact with fellow student researchers.

I have truly enjoyed being a part of SIM for the past few years. From meeting exciting people to seeing great ideas and programs come to life, it has been a wonderful experience. To conclude, I want to leave you with with a few helpful tips, as is the SIM tradition, to maximize your undergraduate experience:

Three things I wish someone had told me as a freshman

1. Talk to people! A college campus is one of the most diverse places in the world. During my time as a Vanderbilt student I've met a chemistry TA who traveled the world, a French TA with an MBA, a police-officer-turned-professor, and countless students who have experienced hardships and successes many of us can only dream of. I learned that each person has a unique and incredible story; all it takes is a moment to listen.

2. Pick a lab where you truly enjoy the research! I was fortunate to find a position in a research lab that I found exciting. Nanotechnology and cancer? I was living the research dream! I realized how important this was when the going got tough. Being passionate about the research is what kept me going in the face of negative results and difficult protocols.

3. Diversify your portfolio! No, not in terms of money (though that may be a good idea, too) but rather in experiences. Attend lectures you may not know a lot about and stay afterwards to chat with the speaker (they may end up offering you a job, who knows? :)). Take a class you normally wouldn’t take. Sign up for a student organization you normally wouldn’t join. These may not transform your life; in all honesty, they probably won’t. They will, however, broaden your horizon and make your college experience a little more memorable.

Your college experience is supposed to be the best four years of your life. That may not be true for everyone, but one thing is certain: only you have the chance to make it so.

Motivation is contagious. Two of the founders of SIM have recently graduated and have left the rest of the SIM Board with a serious case of motivation. For the second month in a row, we’re giving you a double feature; we’re on a roll! These two recent graduates poured their heart and souls into their work, and we want to pass down their Vanderbilt legacies so that we at the SIM Board aren’t hogging their shared wisdom and inspiration. We hereby proudly present their stories with the hope that you, too, can be infected with their motivation!

Meet the first student researcher of our May double-feature: Ariel Helms.

After a remarkable summer in Dr. Jim Patton’s summer research program, I was inspired to make that type of research experience possible for my peers. I spent the summer in Dr. Al Powers’ lab in the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, where I had the privilege of working alongside leading scientists at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center to explore how mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator contribute to Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes. With the Vanderbilt University Medical Center separated from the undergraduate campus by only a sidewalk, I thought more students should have the same opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research. With this pursuit in mind, I worked with Dr. Michelle Grundy and Dr. Michelle Sulikowski and partnered with two accomplished undergraduates, Stephen Russell and Kavya Sharman to conceptualize what would become the Scientific Immersion & Mentorship Program—or, as we fondly refer to it, SIM.

Many late-night emails and lively meetings later, we hosted our first event with three more events in the works. Our primary goal was to help students secure positions in Vanderbilt labs, which would help both students and faculty. Through our signature event, the SIM Research Fair, we have directly matched over 60 students to research lab positions. Our program has grown to include career development lectures, guidance on finding research opportunities off campus, and mentoring from faculty and graduate students. Since those early days of ideas, SIM has grown to serve over 600 members and the SIM Board—which initially was just Stephen, Kavya, and I—has grown to include 8 passionate leaders.

SIM will always be one of my favorite memories. Stephen, Kavya, and I—and of course our science sages, Dr. Grundy and Dr. Sulikowski—had so much fun building this program. If this experience taught me anything it is this: if you do the things you love, you will make yourself an outstanding candidate for a career you will love doing. Now, I’m Chicago bound where I will join Northwestern’s Medical Scientist Training program (MSTP) to become a physician-scientist. Rest assured, I will be on the lookout for opportunities to implement the principles of SIM in novel ways to solve even more problems. SIM is an experience I will carry with me forever.

Perhaps it's something in the water of the Winder lab? This month, we're featuring not just one but two undergraduate students from this Vanderbilt neuroscience lab. Both of April's featured undergraduate SIM researchers are ambitious and devoted student researchers while nurturing their personal and social lives through being active members of unique campus organizations.

Meet the second student researcher of our April double-feature: Austin Isaac.

Researching in the Winder Lab for his Honors Neuroscience Thesis, Austin is studying the activity of guanfacine, a drug in clinical trials for treatment of addiction and stress-induced relapse. In particular, he is investigating guanfacine’s effects in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) to help develop a model for the protein mechanism and neural circuitry activated upon guanfacine administration. Designing and completing experiments from start to finish, Austin has used RNAscope technique to generate significant data that classifies BNST neurons by protein presence and guanfacine activation.

Austin volunteers in the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and holds leadership positions in Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, Vanderbilt Student Government, and The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. In his free time, he enjoys lifting weights, cooking new meals, and spending time outside. He aspires to become a neurosurgeon and use his proficiency in Spanish to volunteer with medical brigades in Central and South America.

Perhaps it's something in the water of the Winder lab? This month, we're featuring not just one but two undergraduate students from this Vanderbilt neuroscience lab. Both of April's featured undergraduate SIM researchers are ambitious and devoted student researchers while nurturing their personal and social lives through being active members of unique campus organizations.

Meet the first student researcher of our April double-feature: Nicolette (Nikki) Frazer.

Researching in the Winder lab, Nikki is studying the behavior of sucrose-addicted mice. She fosters mice to become addicted to sucrose in a 2 bottle choice paradigm, and then does behavioral tests on them during the withdrawal addiction. Through her research, she hopes to study these depressive phenotypes and to compare the effects of sucrose addiction and alcohol addiction, in hopes to draw a parallel between the two.

Outside of research, Nikki is a double neuroscience and Spanish major, and is currently studying abroad in Barcelona! Competitive and caring, she is an active member of both the Vanderbilt Women's Ultimate Frisbee team and Habitat for Humanity. She enjoys baking, watching movies, and latin dancing. She is not set on a future path yet, but is currently open to MD, DVM, and PhD programs.

Kevin FialkowskiVanderbilt University Class of 2018Biomedical Engineer with a minor in Chemistry​SIM matched Kevin Fialkowski to the Iverson Lab in the Vanderbilt University Department of Pharmacology after SIM’s Spring 2015 research fair. Since then, he has been learning protein X-ray crystallography techniques and is currently using the Coot and Phenix software packages to computationally refine the structure of an adhesin protein from Streptococcis gordonii, through which this endocarditis-causing bacteria may possibly bind to human platelets. He is a prospective MD/PhD student with the goal of becoming a physician scientist with a focus in radiology.

Kevin loves international travel and kayaking, and devotes a lot of his free time to helping others locally and globally. He was a student VUceptor this past semester and is currently a co-chair of the My Vanderbilt Experience Society. His selfless spirit really shines through in his work for Project C.U.R.E. through the Vanderbilt Red Cross branch and his upcoming trip to Cusco, Peru with MEDLIFE during which he will serve as a volunteer at a mobile medical clinic.